Degrassi: The Next Generation Season 4
by Cinnamon Muffin Punk
Summary: School is back in session with another installment of Degrassi! Sit back and join the gang for what appears to be a wild ride, because as everyone knows, Degrassi does GO THERE!
1. Chapter 1

**Degrassi: The Next Generation (Season 4)**

Episode Titles:** All in part with the good help of my friend Kayla's MP3 player, and if you want to tell her that they're good, support her story [Sonny With A Chance] or, just plain be her friend – Then make sure to check out her profile at wwegurl815. I also wanted to take the time out to thank my other friends that have supported me through thick and thin: Alisha (xTwistedxImperfectionx), Sharie (Team McOrton) and Ashley (Lorenzo90). You guys are really the best friends that a guy could ever ask for!**

_401: Dating Game_

Last year, Craig was over-ridden with guilt over the things that he put both Ashley and Manny through. He promises that although Degrassi doesn't believe him, he'll prove that he's changed his ways. What happens, when unbeknownst to him, the guys in his band Downtown Sasquatch set him up on a date with the new girl at Degrassi?

_402: Laughed Until We Cried_

J.T. has changed over the summer holiday; he's not the same lovable James Tiberius Yorke that everyone shrugged off. Instead, he's now the brand-new 'cool' J.T. Yorke, leaving behind his old friends and trying to make new ones. Could a childhood memory bring back the old J.T., or will he be lost in the new wave?

_403: Animal I Have Become_

Rick returns to Degrassi Community School, looking forward to what might be a new start after the accident last year. The kids at Degrassi aren't as forgiving as Rick would hope, and it drives to him a new edge, one that many students didn't know he had.

_404: Everytime You Lie_

Manny finally realizes that after an illustrious year of being labeled the 'school slut', that she might've ruined friendships. Can she go back in time and change those friendships from falling forever? It sure sounds easier than it truly is.

_405: To Be Loved_

Ellie still remembers the day that she brought Marco along with her on a date with Sean, she can still remember how he had treated Marco. Marco promises that everything will be okay, and he could care less, as long as he has Ellie as a friend in his life. What happens when Ellie starts to feel a little bit different?

_406: Stay Wide Awake_

It's been a full year since the death of Craig's dad and the thought fills his mind everyday. He remembers all the memories: His dad abusing him until bruises would be spread across his entire body. Craig forces himself behind the wheel, driving his band to their next gig. Are the memories still too fresh in his mind?

_407: Falling Over Me_

Sean takes a chance to reflect on all his memories at Degrassi Community School, leading him to realize that maybe he's taken the wrong path as of late. Too bad, the one girl that he truly had feelings for could care less. She's already got a boyfriend, and he's made her the happiest she's been in years.

_408: Made of Glass_** [Part One of Two]**

Spinner realizes that being with Paige has led to many great memories, but as of late, they've been arguing more and more about her time spent with Mr. Orleander. Could Paige and her teacher be more than just a teacher-student friendship?

_409: Made of Glass _**[Part Two of Two]**

Once Spinner finds out about how close his girlfriend has gotten to her teacher, he reacts in a way that shocks many of his close and personal friends. Could there be only one person in his life that changes it all around? Thing is, nobody knows how much longer she has.

_410: Just like You_

Emma realizes that last year Manny had a lot of fun, she experienced new things and made herself 'known' in Degrassi. Will the once calm and collected environmentalist lose her edge, changing into a person that even her closest friends wouldn't recognize?

_411: Never Too Late_

It's never too late to tell the person that you love – that you're in love with them. Well it's too late when that person's already moved on and doesn't want to see you ever again. Too many people, too little time and that's the way Valentine's Day is celebrated at Degrassi.

_412: Lose Yourself_

Joey Jeremiah realizes that it's now or never, will he finally propose to the girl of his dreams? Although, he may be in for a huge shock when he realizes that something doesn't quite add up when he finds a plane ticket to Los Angeles in Caitlin's purse, along with a slew of late-night phone calls from a man asking to speak with Caitlin.

_413: My Happy Ending_

Marco hasn't seen many endings in his life, he's worried sick about everything in life, and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. Could a few surprise visits brighten his mood? Meanwhile, Toby and Rick plot a scheme to date one of Degrassi's hottest students. Thing is? She's interested in one of them.

_414: Everything you're not_

Ashley hasn't been seen much around Degrassi since her strew of incidents with Craig late last year, but now she's up to her head in homework and catching up to do. Except, this Ashley Kerwin isn't the same girl anymore, she's on more of an edge and has been hanging around with Alex and Jay. What could she want to do with them?

_415: Take A Chance on Me_

It's almost the end of the year and relationships have been blooming, but for one person, the person of their dreams hasn't talked to them since the beginning of the year. What does it take to finally be noticed? Trust me, what this person does, is not the way to win over the person of your dreams.

_416: Over and Over_

Joey is in huge shock as he meets the person that had been leaving the late-night phone calls for Caitlin. Who is he, and what could he want from Degrassi? Meanwhile, Craig returns from a recording session with Downtown Sasquatch only to find a letter addressed to him on his dresser. The creepy thing about it? It's from his dad.

_417: Give Me Your Eyes _**[Part One of Two]**

It's the end of the year, and that means yet another dance at Degrassi Community School. Except this time, an announcement by Principal Raditch could shake the foundations of Degrassi.

_418: Give Me Your Eyes _**[Part Two of Two]**

The students are still reeling over the huge announcement from Principal Raditch, but as memories are tossed about, an unexpected visit brings people back together for this one special moment.

Characters: **Grade 10: **Liberty, Sean, JT, Toby, Emma, and Manny.

**Grade 11: **Paige, Craig, Ellie, Jimmy, Spinner, Hazel, Ashley, and Marco.

**Adults: **Mr. Simpson, Joey, Mr. Raditch, Spike, and Caitlin.

**Minor Characters: **Darcy, Danny, Matt Oleander, Rick Murray, Dylan, Alex, Jay, Chris Sharpe, Angela Jeremiah, Ms. Hatzilakos, Ms. Kwan, and Ms. Suave.

**__****A/N: So this is the start to a whole new year at Degrassi.. I hope that you'll join us for the wild ride! Which 'episodes' are you guys looking forward to? Which characters are you looking forward to reading more about? I love feedback and you guys are the ones that make my world rock!**


	2. Episode 401: Dating Game

**Degrassi: The Next Generation (Season 4)**  
_Episode 401: Dating Game_

**Summary: **Last year, Craig was over-ridden with guilt over the things that he put both Ashley and Manny through. He promises that although Degrassi doesn't believe him, he'll prove that he's changed his ways. What happens, when unbeknownst to him, the guys in his band Downtown Sasquatch set him up on a date with the new girl at Degrassi?

* * *

Craig sighed silently; his thoughts had been drifting over the entire summer holiday. Everyone still knew about his relationship issues with Manny and Ashley, how could they not know? He had changed, he wasn't the same Craig Manning anymore, but would anyone at Degrassi believe him?

"Craig!" A voice called out, his eyes darting around the campus to see who had called out his name. "Craig Manning!" He shifted around, _'Who the fuck is calling me?'_ Craig muttered under his breath, whoever it was, they were starting to get on his nerves. "Albert Manning's son?" That certainly got his attention, bolting up from the staircase at the mention of his father got Craig to look around. Nobody really brought up his dad, even—

"ANNA CHRISTINE HARRIS?" He laughed, seeing the girl that he had known since childhood on a Degrassi campus. "What are you doing here? And your hair…" Craig grinned, running his hand through the dark hair that was adorned with purple streaks.

"My hair is my hair, okay?" She smirked, punching him in the arm. "Mom and Dad got tired of me causing trouble at Bloor Collegiate that they sent me here." It was then that Craig pulled her into a hug, maybe just maybe, she wouldn't find out about any of his escapades from the prior year.

"Ugh, don't you ever shower?" Anna joked, pulling away from Craig's hug and turning to see that his attention was focused on Ashley stepping out of a van with her _dorky_ stepbrother, Toby. "New flame, Craig?" He shook his head slowly, watching as she trudged right past him. "Tough luck for the buck," She smiled, punching Craig in the arm again.

"Anna, let's get you inside. We wouldn't want you being late for your very **FIRST** class here at Degrassi, would we?" Craig asked, barely paying any attention to anything or anyone after seeing Ashley. Obviously, she wasn't in the mood to see him; she had just walked right past him.

"Hey!" Anna pouted, stopping in the middle of the front entrance, causing Craig to turn and look at her in confusion. "Are you not going to give me a piggy-back?" She giggled, as he smirked and walked back, lowering himself to the ground. "Let's go Mr. Piggy, I have Media Immersion first."

Craig's eyes popped open at that moment. "So does Ashley…"

**Degrassi Intro and Song**

"Aren't you going to introduce us to your friend, Mr. Manning?" Snake asked, arching his eyebrow in the direction of the doorway. "I mean, if you don't, we can go around and consider her a Jane Doe."

"Anna. Anna Harris, pleasure to meet you." She said, smiling softly as she walked into the classroom. _'Lots of attention today, looks like it'll take me a long time to gain any true friends around here.'_

"Ugh!" Paige scoffed, turning to look at Hazel. "Can you believe he has another slut this year?" Hazel giggled lightly, opening up her binder and pulling out a sheet of paper. **'SLUT!'** Paige wrote on the paper, rolling it into a circular shape and tossing it across the room.

'_What the-?'_ Anna mumbled under her breath, picking up the piece of paper that had landed next to her feet. As she opened the paper, she couldn't help but smile wide. Obviously if she was going to show that it hurt her, it'd only lead to her being made fun of, and she most certainly did not need that on her first day.

"Everything alright, Anna?" Mr. Simpson asked, the girl just giggled lightly as she nodded her head, throwing the paper in the garbage. "Okay, since you seem to know Craig, how about you take a seat next to him?" Anna looked over at Craig with a soft smile, and motioned for him to lead the way to their seats.

"She obviously thinks she's too hot to deal with, Paige." Hazel said, rolling her eyes in the direction of the new girl.

"Don't worry. I have ten months to make her life hell, don't I?" The blonde said, a small yet devious smirk appearing across her lips.

**Scene Change**

Manny sat in the Degrassi library; her eyes darting over the front of her book every once in a while. She still carried that horrible fact that she could've become a teenage mom at the age of fifteen, and even though it was last year, it still seemed to linger on everyone's mind. "Emma!" She called out, having not seen her friend since the last day of school.

The librarian shot both girls a stern look, causing Emma to turn around and face her friend. "You know this is a library, right?" She asked, pulling up a chair and sitting across from the girl she had practically grown up with.

"Um, yeah. I mean, I'm not stupid…" Manny started, but the look from her friend had proved otherwise.

"You're not stupid? Yet, you almost had a baby at the age of fifteen. That's pretty stupid in my books." Emma said, looking up at the clock instead of facing her friend.

"How can you even say that? Your mom had you when she was a teenager, right?" Emma just nodded her head; still not focusing on the girl that was considered her best friend. "Em, what's up? You're practically ignoring me."

Emma let out a loud sigh, finally facing her friend. "Look, it's not the same anymore, alright? I mean I know we've been friends since kindergarten but I don't know if I can continue doing this anymore."

Manny looked worried, was Emma sick of being her friend? "Continue doing what, Em? We're still friends, right?" She asked, placing the book on the table.

"I don't even know about that." Emma simply stated, her eyes focusing on the clock once again. "Maybe when you change back into the Manny Santos that didn't care about wearing thongs, or hip huggers, then I'll be your friend again." She said, standing up from the table and glancing back at Manny. "Until then, maybe you can go get pregnant again." And with that, Emma started walking towards the doors that led back into the hallway.

"Em!" Manny called out, not wanting to believe that her now-former best friend had practically disowned her. "I swear, I've changed…" She muttered quietly, tears filling her eyes.

**...**

"Ellie, I don't wanna talk to her, alright? She's a slut that practically ruined my entire sophomore year." Ashley said, her eyes darting towards the girl that tried to stop the tears from rolling down her face.

"Just give it a shot, Ash. I mean, it wasn't just her, it was Craig too." The redhead frowned, not wanting so much drama to plague the beginning of the year.

"I really don't want to." Ashley started, standing up from her seat as she leaned on the desk. "But since you're one of my best friends, then I guess I can." She said, walking up to the table where Manny was situated. "Manny?" Ashley asked, not wanting to even see the girl this year, but that would be hard if they were stuck in the same school.

Manny looked up at Ashley, her eyes showing fear of some sort, but also the puffiness from crying. "Y-Ye-Yeah?" The girl stuttered, believing that Ashley was going to do something to her.

"Can I sit down?" She asked, pointing at the chair, watching as Manny slowly nodded her head. "Look, I don't think we've talked since last year, and I really don't see the point of it, but I guess it's for the best."

"YouknowIdidn'tplananyofthat, right?" Manny quickly stated, closing her eyes in the process.

"Okay, I didn't understand a single thing. Can you repeat that slower, please?" Ashley asked, her eyes darting back over at Ellie as the redhead just offered a shrug of her shoulders.

Manny giggled nervously, looking straight at Ashley. "I said, I didn't plan any of it. It was just kind of a moment. A moment that I truly wish I could take back." The tears had stopped suddenly; the weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Right…?

"I know you wish you could take it back, but you can't. You really ruined everything, you know that?" She asked, her eyes looking at Manny with pure seriousness. "I don't know if I'll ever forgive you for it." Ashley said, standing up from the chair and pushing it forward.

"I don't expect you too, alright? I was really stupid, and I nearly paid for it." Manny said, her eyes darting down to her stomach.

"It's a New Year, so new beginnings, alright?" Ashley asked, extending her hand slowly. She didn't want to trust Manny after everything that had gone down last year, but knew that if she harbored a grudge for her whole life, it'd only lead to worse things.

"New beginnings…" Manny muttered, shaking Ashley's outreached hand.

**Scene Change**

"What are you going to do to her?" Hazel asked, her eyes darting around the cafeteria that was beginning to fill up with Degrassi's hungriest students.

"Watch and see…" Paige said, turning around to face her best friend with a smirk, but noticed that the girl looked shocked about something. "What is it, Hazel?" She asked, turning around to be met with the view of Anna sitting alongside Craig, Spinner, Jimmy and Marco. "That bitch!" The blonde spat out, stomping over to the table.

"Paige!" Spinner said, a smile coming across his face. "Meet Anna Harris, she's new to Degrassi." He said, introducing the two without realizing that his girlfriend's face was one of fury and rage.

"I already know her, alright?" She said, rolling her eyes. "She's in Media Immersion with us, but I'm not one to be bitch-like, so nice to meet you Amanda." Paige smirked, knowing full well that she had gotten the girl's name wrong.

"Um, it's An-" She started, but was cut off by Paige's hand.

"Anna Harris, we get it, alright?" If one could judge Paige's temper at this exact moment, they'd truly see that she was furious with all the attention that the new girl wavered.

"Okay…" Anna muttered, sipping on her milk through a straw as she looked down at the food on her plate.

"Spin, can I have a word with you?" Paige asked, snapping her fingers in the process, causing the boy to stand up and walk over towards his girlfriend.

Jimmy broke out in a small chuckle; "You are whipped!" He said, mimicking the sound that a whip might make.

"Jim!" Hazel shouted, causing the boy to look at her in confusion. "You're in on this conversation too." Spinner just laughed, shaking his head in the process as the two boys joined their girlfriends.

"Do they hate me or something?" Anna asked, raising her eyes from her plate as she looked up at Craig and Marco.

Craig shook his head quickly, forking a bunch of food into his mouth, which left Marco as the only one left to explain the temper of Paige in particular. "I think the only reason that they might hate you…" He stopped, looking up at the two girls as they poked and prodded their boyfriends. "Well, because you're pretty cool, and they don't like the fact that you act like nothing bugs you."

Anna laughed; a light smile came to her face. "All those years in Bloor have done me well, I don't need to be fake for anyone." She said, tugging on the purple strands of her hair to prove her point.

Paige and Hazel turned around at the sound of Anna's laugh, a look of disgust reached Paige's face briefly before she spoke. "Craig! Marco! Can we talk to you guys too?" She asked, watching as the boys stood up from their table and joined the four that were already standing beside the vending machines.

**...**

"Look, I don't know what you think you're doing, but this is NOT the year to start another sex scandal at Degrassi." Paige said, poking Craig hard in the chest.

"What the hell?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at the blonde that he towered over. "Sex scandal? There's no such thing." He then realized that Paige was talking about the incident at last year's holiday assembly. "Okay, well there's no such thing…this year, alright?"

Hazel raised an eyebrow, turning to face her best friend. "See, we told you there was nothing going on between them, they're just friends."

"Uh huh, I'm so sure." Paige said, a fake smile plastered across her lips. "If there's nothing going on between them, then prove it." She was so sure that Craig would have no way of proving his innocence this time.

"Prove it? How the hell am I going to do that, Paige? Take a lie-detector test?" Craig whispered, not wanting Anna to hear a single word of the conversation.

"Hmm, not a bad idea…" The blonde said, smirking in the process. "All in favor?" Paige placed her hand up in the air, waiting for everyone else to join in. "Come on you guys!"

Marco shook his head, looking down at the floor. It wasn't really all that fair for everyone to judge Anna without even knowing her. She was Craig's friend and they all should have believed Craig when he said that, instead of jumping to all kinds of different conclusions.

"Spinner? Jimmy? Come on you guys!" Paige said, lifting Hazel's hand in the process. "Hazel wants to see a lie-detector test, don't you?" She said, turning to look at her friend.

"I don't know, maybe they are **JUST** friends, Paige. I really don't want to start assuming things this year." Hazel said, pulling her hand from the grasp of her blonde friend.

"Just friends? Are you kidding me?" She asked aloud. "Don't you remember the Manny Santos situation of last year?" Paige tried to remind everyone about the incident, but no one was in the mood to listen, as they all started to walk back to the lunch table.

**...**

"Sorry about that," Craig muttered quietly, looking up at Anna with curious eyes, as the rest of the group joined in around them.

"Paige can kind of be obsessive about things." Hazel said, lightly laughing at the fact. "She'll do anything to throw anyone under the bus."

It really did seem like a New Year for Hazel Aden this semester, she seemed to have grown up a bit and know not to judge other people as much as she had in the past. In the past, she'd never been more than just a follower of Paige Michalchuk had. That was most certainly the title she was getting rid of this year.

Anna just gazed at the group briefly before lowering her head. "Um, she wanted you to take a lie-detector test?" She asked, her eyes focusing on Craig.

Craig's eyes widened, how did she know about that? There was no way that she could've heard them. "How do you know that?" He asked, eating some of the now-cold food that had been left on his plate.

"I can hear things, Manning. Plus, she wasn't that quiet anyway…" She muttered, standing up from the table as she dumped her food into the trash. "Look, why don't we just go out to dinner or something tonight? We can catch up on old times, if you'd like to…"

A quick look at Craig would tell you that he was supportive of the entire idea, but he could tell that the group would say something about it, and he didn't need that kind of drama.

"I don't know…" He bit his lip, looking over at Spinner, Jimmy and Marco as he tried to figure out a good reason that he couldn't make the dinner date with Anna. "I think, we have band practice tonight, don't we guys?"

Anna folded her arms across her chest, staring at the back of Craig's head as a smirk played with her lips. It was rather obvious to her that he had been caught off-guard.

Spinner chuckled, noticing the smirk on Anna's lips. "No, no, I think we have practice on Wednesday, isn't that right?" He asked, noticing that the guys had all caught on to his little play. "Exactly. So, he'll meet you at seven, is that cool?" He questioned, looking up at Anna, the smirk still remaining on her lips.

"Yeah, it's perfect!" Anna shouted, watching as Craig's head turned to face her with a look of confusion spread across his face. "Come on now, you're saying it's not perfect?" She asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

"No, no, it's perfect. It's just that…" He caught himself as he didn't know what to say at that exact moment, but the smile that crossed his face had told his true feelings. "I'm all for it."

"Good! I'll pick you up at your step-dad's?" She asked, raising an eyebrow and noticing the nod from him. "See ya then." With that, she took off out of the cafeteria in such a speed that if anyone had even tried to stop her, they'd be knocked to the ground.

**Scene Change**

As Manny walked down the hallway, she couldn't help but feel as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders at that exact moment. Okay, maybe Emma had gone off on her, and said that she'd have to see about them still being friends. What was really wrong from the change that Manny had made last year? Okay, maybe she almost became one of those statistics of a teen mom, but that didn't happen. This year, she changed her appearance slightly and it's worked out quite well for her, thus far. I mean, Ashley even told her that they'd start over fresh.

"Hey guys," She said, strolling up alongside J.T. and Toby with a light smirk. "How was summer? Do anything interesting?" She asked, trying to start up a conversation but the two of them were enthralled in their own conversation to even realize the brunette standing next to them. "Um, guys?" She coughed, snapped her fingers, nothing worked.

"Fine, whatever." Manny just turned on her heal and walked off, before the voice of J.T. called out to her. "Finally, you realize I'm here…" She laughed, turning around to face to the two boys. "How was summer? Do anything interesting?" She repeated, as she stood next to the two boys once again.

"Nah, not really. I just went to computer camp, so that was rather _interesting_." Toby laughed, going into a conversation about the systems that he had worked on, the codes that he learned, upon many more.

"Yawn!" J.T. cracked, looking at Manny as he rolled his eyes. "I just sat around and helped my parents move, made some friends, stuff like that." He said, sneaking a glance at Toby, who was still rambling about the camp that he was involved in. "And what about you, Manuela?"

"Nothing as _exciting_ as Toby's cyber camp, that sounds **SO** fun." Manny joked; it was fun to at least laugh about something once in a while, instead of having to spend the whole summer crying. She could've seriously enjoyed this, if she didn't notice Emma walking down the hallway in a hurry.

"Manny…" The blonde spat out, eyeing her former best friend. "How interesting it is to see you here."

Manny frowned, looking at the confused looks that J.T. and Toby were now displaying. "Come on, just because you don't want to be friends, doesn't mean that you have to take my other friends away."

Emma scoffed, running a hand through her hair. "Sorry, but I didn't know they were **YOUR** friends." She then turned to look at J.T. with a raised eyebrow. "Isn't it fun to know that someone here that you had a crush on, got pregnant by an older man, and then she aborted the baby?"

The brunette felt the tears starting to roll down her cheeks. How could Emma be so cruel to judge her for something like that? Something that her own mom had to deal with. "How can you say that?" Manny spat out, shoving the blonde that stood in front of her.

"It's the truth, Manny, and sometimes the truth hurts, doesn't it?" With that, she turned and walked off, heading to the Media Immersion room.

"Manny, are you alright?" J.T. asked, pulling the brunette closer to him into a hug. The girl shook her head slowly, her body beginning to quiver from the fear. Toby still continued to go on about his computer course, after Emma had walked off, causing J.T. to shoot him a look. "SHUT UP!" He spat out, causing the boy to stop in his tracks.

Toby looked up at J.T. who was still holding Manny close to him, nodded his head and walked away without even so much as a second thought.

"I'm sorry that I dragged you into this, J.T." Manny whispered, looking up at the boy to see if he was still focusing on her.

He was focusing on her; she was one of his best friends in the entire school. Okay, maybe Toby was his best male friend, but he had always felt that Emma and Manny were his two closest friends in the female category. Why wouldn't he have focused on her?

J.T. let out a soft sigh, running his hand through her hair as he could feel her body relax under his touch. "What are best friends for?"

**Scene Change**

Craig smirked, standing in front of the mirror as he checked out his features before his 'date' with Anna, it was going to be good to start over fresh with someone that didn't know his entire story, thus far. Okay, maybe she happened to know about how his dad had died in a car crash, and that he was now living with his stepfather, Joey. _'Oh no! Don't ruin this for me…'_ He muttered quietly, bolting out of his bedroom and down the stairs in a hurry, only to see that Joey was just sitting on the couch watching a Blue Jays baseball game. "Hey," Craig breathed out. "I'm going on a date tonight, so I'll be home late, alright?"

"Should you be going out on a Tuesday night, Craig? Don't you have some kind of homework, I mean, if you don't, I could easily call Snake and get you some." Joey chuckled, noticing the stare that he was receiving. "Easy, easy! I'm just kidding. Enjoy yourself and I'll see you at around ten?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at his stepson.

"Yeah, that sounds fine."

_DING-DONG!_

"I'll get it," Joey smirked, walking towards the door before being pushed back by Craig, who pulled open the door with a smile on his face. Once Joey saw who was on the other side, he pushed past Craig, walking towards the girl and wrapped his arms around her. "Anna Harris!" He chuckled, remembering the girl that used to sometimes accompany Craig when he came over to visit for the weekends.

"The one and only, Joey Jeremiah!" Anna smiled, returning the hug briefly. "I haven't seen you in years, and you've…" She tried to cover her laughter, but couldn't help it as a few chuckles passed by her lips, as she pointed at his head. "You've gone bald!"

Joey frowned in a playful manner, shaking his head. "No fair!" He teased, before running a hand through the hair of his stepson. "Don't you worry though, he'll go bald one of these days too." He winked, before walking back into the house. "Do you guys want anything to drink? Maybe some coffee or pop?"

"No time for that, Joey. We have reservations," Craig lied, trying to shoo Anna out the door. "We don't wanna be late for those, you know they're important."

"Oh okay, maybe another time?" He asked, but didn't receive any answer, except for the sound of the door closing shut.

Anna tilted her head to the side as she walked alongside Craig. "What was that about? Joey was just trying to be nice."

"Joey talks a lot, you know that, once he gets going, he never shuts up. Imagine that if he were on the caffeine of pop or coffee?" Craig laughed; the real reason that he had left rather quickly was due to the fact that he didn't want Joey to bring up anything from the past.

**...**

Anna couldn't help but laugh once they had gotten to the restaurant. Craig had been sharing all kinds of stories about everything ranging from the first time he fixed his sister's diaper to the time that Joey had tried to revitalize his old high school band, The Zit Remedy last year. "Come on, it couldn't have been _that_ bad." She said, sipping on the glass of water in front of her.

"No, no, it was pretty brutal. I mean, he brought out his old keyboard, and tried getting the guys to make a beat." He said, peering upwards at the sight of the blonde that had entered the restaurant. _Oh God,_ He thought to himself, hoping that Paige wouldn't notice the two of them.

"Craig!" Paige shouted, causing people to stare at her as she strutted over to the two friends. "Oh…it's you." She said, rolling her eyes at the girl, who began to quiet down as she ate some of the food on her plate.

"_Bitch."_ Anna muttered under her breath, watching as the blonde tried hard to ignore her comment, but obviously her superior _bitchiness_ couldn't let her do that.

"What was that, hon? I could've sworn that you just called me a bitch." The blonde said, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

"Oh wow!" Anna noticed that Craig was trying to tell her that she shouldn't get involved. Too late… "I guess blondes **CAN** hear after all. Congratulations!" She said, mock-clapping at the fact.

Paige smirked, she wasn't all that impressed to say the least, but it did take guts to say something insulting to the girl that could pretty much 'make you or break you' when it came to the hallways in Degrassi. "Aw, very sweet. It's nice to know your parents taught you well, and that they didn't drop you on your head." She laughed, turning to look at Craig, who was just trying to fit every piece of food into his mouth, so he could avoid talking.

"No, they didn't drop me on my head. I mean, I kinda wish they did sometimes, you know?" She pondered, placing a finger to her chin in mock thought. "That way, I could…" She started, but before she finished her sentence, she had stood up and dumped the contents of her plate over Paige's head. "Do that without any repercussions. Let's go, Craig!" Anna smiled, watching as her friend stood up alongside her in confidence.

"Sorry, Paige." Craig mumbled, running out the door with the dark-haired girl, leaving Paige standing in disbelief at the table that had been occupied, seconds earlier.

"Ma'am?" The waiter said, making his way up to the blonde. "Do you want to pay for the meal with debit or cash?" The blonde let out a screeching sound, letting everyone in the restaurant that this was not to be the end of the war between Anna Harris and Paige Michalchuk.

"I'll take that as debit…"

**Scene Change**

"I dragged you into this, J.T. and I feel like crap for doing so!" Manny pouted, walking alongside the boy as they made their way home from school.

A small smile came across his lips as he looked at the girl, pulling her closer to him. "Don't feel like crap, alright? You're not at fault for this, we're all friends and if Emma can't see that, then maybe she's never truly been there." J.T. said, trying to reason with the brunette, watching as she continuously brushed her hand under her eyes to wipe up the tears.

"I don't get it though," She sniffled, pulling out of his grasp briefly. "We've been best friends since we were four, and now she's throwing me aside. Why? Because I almost got pregnant last year?" Manny stopped, leaning against the light-post that was situated outside her apartment building.

J.T. just shrugged, trying to figure out the real reason that Emma could've been mad at Manny, but he couldn't think of a reason that quick. "Just give her time, right? I mean, we're sixteen, she's probably going through one of those time periods where it's all like, _'I'm Emma Nelson, I hate the world and the people in it!'_ so, don't even go around and think it's you." He noticed that the girl had begun to laugh during his mock of Emma.

Manny pushed her hair over her shoulder, giving J.T. a light shove. _'J.T. Yorke, if I catch you mocking me again, I'll send Mr. Clean the Environment after you!'_ She said, smiling in the process, she couldn't believe that J.T. had made her feel better about herself for the second time in one day.

"Oh no!" J.T. laughed, putting his hands up in the air as if he were surrendering. "Not Mr. Clean the Environment, he's going to make me all…" Before the boy could finish his sentence, he felt the lips of Manny pressed against his in a soft embrace.

They had been friends since kindergarten alongside Emma, and here they were, standing outside of the apartment building that they had played Hide and Seek in as children, except now they were kissing.

Manny truly couldn't believe that she was kissing one of her best friends, she could truly feel as if her cheeks were heating up at the fact as well. _Don't let him see you blushing… _She thought to herself, as she felt him break away from the kiss.

"Aw, you're blushing!" J.T. chuckled, watching the girl dip her head slightly. "Manuela, don't hide that fact. I think it's beautiful, alright?" He said, tilting her chin upwards so that he could catch her in a return embrace.

"Manuela!" The voice called from the balcony on the fifth floor, causing the two young lovebirds to look up and see Manny's mom standing there with her arms crossed slightly.

"I better go, alright?" Manny frowned, wanting to continue to kiss the boy. "I'll catch you in the morning." She said, lightly pecking his cheek before she skipped to the door, happier than she'd ever been.

**Scene Change**

"Oh my God, no offense Spinner, but if Paige hates me after last night, I am so sorry." Craig said, wrapping an arm over Anna's shoulders as they told the guys about the little dinner 'incident'.

"No dice man, it's alright. Maybe it truly got through to her brain somehow." Spinner shrugged, knowing that Paige was the one who had wanted to get some sort of advantage on the new girl.

Jimmy smirked, looking at his friends as he noticed the blonde walking towards the group with Hazel in tow. "Does she even have a brain?" Jimmy mumbled, causing a chuckle to come from the group as she stood before them.

"Hello to you too, James." Paige muttered, Hazel leaving her side as she sat down beside Jimmy. "Hi hon, so nice of you to join us, isn't it?" The blonde faked this nice attitude whenever somebody had the nerve to get under her skin.

"Um, hi." Anna laughed, pushing a hand through her hair. "I'm so sorry about the spaghetti last night, I mean it must've taken hours upon hours to get that nasty meat sauce out of your hair…" She said, flicking a hand through the blonde's hair to pull out a small, yet dry piece of a meatball.

"Eww!" Hazel gasped, looking at Paige with disgust. "How did you not get that out of your hair?"

"Ugh!" The blonde scoffed, stomping off towards the bathroom in total disgust of how Anna had once again upstaged her. _I'm going to fucking get you back, don't you ever think that I won't! Paige Michalchuk doesn't let these small things go un-noticed! _ Paige thought, looking in the mirror as she combed at her hair, trying to get out any other small pieces of food.

**...**

"Works every time…" Anna muttered, going to place the meatball into her mouth.

The group collectively let out a rather loud gasp, watching as the girl began to dip the piece of food into her mouth. "NO!" They all shouted at the same time, getting up to grab her arms so that she didn't devour the meatball, and sending the item to the floor.

"Easy, easy." She muttered, pulling out of their grasp as she bent down to the floor to pick up the item, which she rolled out into her hands to reveal a small piece of paper.

"Oh God, you had us fooled!" Marco said, shaking his head slowly at the girl that everyone was beginning to show friendship to. If only one person in all of Degrassi hated her, then it couldn't be quite that bad, right?

Anna just snickered, placing the paper back into her pocket. "Did you guys honestly think I would eat a piece of food found in Paige Michalchuk's hair?" She asked, her laugh getting louder as she noticed the slow nods from her newfound group of friends. "Oh, you guys…" She mumbled, sitting down on the steps next to Craig.

**...**

Paige continued to fish through her precious blonde hair, trying to look for any other pieces of food that Anna could've dumped, and she wouldn't have noticed. She was positive that she had gotten everything out last night.

The bathroom door opened, and the person that walked in next made Paige smile. This was finally her chance to get back at the new girl somehow, if this didn't work, then nothing would. "Ashley Kerwin!" The blonde beamed, setting down her brush as she looked at the stall door that was occupied at the moment.

"What do you want, Paige?" The girl asked, but didn't receive an answer, just pure silence. _Figures… _Ashley thought, remembering how the blonde had ignored her during grade nine and that it made her life a living hell.

Once the door to the stall was pulled open, the blonde rushed forward and grabbed her 'former' friend by the shoulders with a smirk. "Hon, have you seen the new girl that Craig has been hanging out with?"

"First of all, let me wash my hands, and secondly, I have. Why?" Ashley asked, looking at the blonde as she ran her hands underneath the water.

Paige beamed; all of her plan was working thus far, even though there was no real _set_ plan in motion. "Oh, nothing. I just thought that I'd let you know they're pretty hot and heavy, if you catch my drift." The blonde lied. This was going to be so much easier for her.

"What do I really care, Paige? The girl asked, running her hands under the dryer. "Craig could be hot and heavy with the entire school if he wanted to, and I still wouldn't really give a shit." Ashley spat out, looking at the blonde with wide eyes.

"He broke your heart last year, and now you don't care if he has sexual relations with the whole school? Come on now, where's the Ashley Kerwin that I knew since elementary school?" Okay, Paige was pretty good at this little scheme, but I don't think that Ashley Kerwin from first grade would've cared if a boy was having sexual relations. So, maybe Paige kinda sucked at describing stuff.

"Um, of course I care…" She started, but was cut off by Paige pulling her into a hug. "It's just that I don't want to seem so stuck in love." She finished, before pulling the blonde away slightly.

"You're not." Paige said, looking at her friend with sad eyes. "You've just had your heart broken last year, and over that course of time, he's been sleeping with TWO girls! Who's to say how many he slept with over the summer break?" The blonde shook her head in disgust, as if she couldn't believe the fact.

Ashley turned to look at the blonde with a raised eyebrow, before turning her attention to the bathroom door. "He's right out there?" She asked.

"Right out there." Paige smiled, watching as her 'former' friend made her way out of the bathroom in a hurry. _This is much easier than I thought,_ The blonde smirked, crossing her arms across her chest as she looked into the mirror.

**Scene Change**

J.T. walked down the hall alongside Manny, their hands linked together as they felt the vibes of being a new couple. Obviously, people like Emma and a select few others would see something wrong with it, but when you like someone, you can't help but show it. "You're beautiful," he smirked, leaning forward and catching her with a kiss on the cheek.

The girl couldn't help but smile, after last night's surprise kiss; she had felt as if another weight had been lifted off of her shoulders for the second time that year. But the true weight that was crushing down on her back was that of her good ol' 'former' friend that stood across the hallway, Liberty standing by her side.

"You see, she's such a slut this year!" Emma shouted, her voice loud enough for people passing by to hear her. "Yes, I said it! Manny Santos is the biggest slut at Degrassi!" A few people that were heading to their lockers stopped to see if anything was going to happen between the two former friends.

"Don't listen to her," J.T. quietly whispered, hoping that Manny would just choose to ignore her, instead of going up and starting a fight of some sort. "You know she's just jealous."

"I know," Manny muttered quietly, before pulling away from his grasp as she walked over towards the blonde. People had begun to crowd around them, as if they expected some sort of fight to break down. "What is this, Em? Is this your fucking fun? Taking your shots while I'm standing right here…"

Emma just laughed, turning to nudge Liberty as the girl held up a sign with Manny's face on it, and the big bold letters of **'SCHOOL SKANK'** written on it. "Can't help but tell the truth," The blonde laughed briefly, before being pushed backwards by her former friend.

"You want the fucking truth, Em? Do you?" Manny shouted, pushing Emma harder across the chest, causing the blonde to stumble back still. "You wanna throw nine years of friendship down the river? FINE! It's all down now, because I'm sick and tired of your shit!" The brunette turned to walk away, feeling the tears well up in her eyes.

J.T. just stood at the lockers, his mouth agape as he wondered what would've happened if Manny had the temper of someone like Paige or Alex, Emma obviously wouldn't be standing, that's for sure.

"See everyone, this is proof right here as to why you shouldn't become friends with school sluts." Emma shouted, her eyes burning a hole into the back of her former friend's head.

"Manny…" J.T. grabbed her around the waist, stopping her from walking back towards the blonde. "Just breathe alright, she just wants to get under your case."

Emma then turned to the boy that was holding Manny close to him, her childhood friend J.T. "Watch out, she's going to break your heart, J.T. and she's going to make sure that you never fall in love with anyone else."

The boy just rolled his eyes, not caring to believe the words that were coming out of Emma's mouth. "Emma, just shut up, alright?" He pleaded, looking at the girl with wandering eyes.

"NO! She's not going to shut up, she never does! All she fucking cares is about herself, right?" Manny said, breaking away from the grasp that her boyfriend had on her. "Emma Nelson – Crusader to the world, yet she can't stand seeing someone in love other than her!" The brunette had been standing right in front of her friend, until she felt a slap connect with her cheek.

"Fight, fight!" People shouted, watching the two former friends beginning to yank at each other's hair, trying to get in some punches and kicks as well, but they couldn't as students were pulling them apart.

"Emma! Manny!" The voice of Mr. Simpson intervened as he got in between the two former friends. "Both of you, get to Mr. Raditch's office, right now!"

Manny broke away from the grip that many students had on her, as she stomped off through the cafeteria. Emma bit her lip, gathering her belongings from the ground as she walked down calmly to the office.

"What happened here?" Mr. Simpson asked, looking at everybody for answers, but people had started to walk off. "J.T.?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at the boy that was now beginning to fiddle with his lock.

The boy turned to look at the teacher; his eyes were worried, as he didn't know what had just happened. He couldn't believe that two of his best friends had gotten into a fight. "It all started…"

**...**

As they walked out of the office that day, both being given a two-week in school suspension, Manny turned her head to her former friend and sighed. "I can't believe you would say such hurtful things to someone like me, Em."

Emma just shook her head, gripping the yellow slip of paper that she had to give to her mom. "I don't know, I really don't. You know me, I hate confrontation and I guess I just snapped." Was this a change in Emma? Was she actually beginning to apologize to her friend for everything that had happened?

"What about Liberty? What was with her being on your side?" Manny asked, stopping in the foyer of the school to look at the blonde. "I mean, you two actually made up a sign with my picture on it that said, 'School Skank', that's pretty hurtful."

"I know! I'm sorry, all right? Is a two-week suspension not bad enough?" The blonde said, sitting down on the stairs as she looked at her former friend. "I just thought that maybe this year, you'd throw me away and not want anything to do with me."

Manny lightly chuckled, shaking her head. "Oh my God, you are aware that if any boys heard you say that, they'd think WE were dating."

Emma stood up, lightly shoving Manny in the process. "Not funny, that'd be totally wrong. But I would pay good money to see their reactions." She said, a small smile crossing her lips.

The brunette looked over at her friend with a raised eyebrow. "Okay, tell me something. Did we just make up?"

"I think so…" Emma lightly laughed, pulling her friend into a tight hug.

"Good." Manny smiled, returning the hug.

"So…" The blonde said, sneaking a glance at her friend as she pulled away from the embrace. "What about you and J.T.?" She asked, a smile crossing her lips.

**Scene Change**

"So if anything happens to set you off about Paige, just toss one of these at her." Anna chuckled; handing each of the group a tiny rolled up piece of paper. "I'd personally yell out to watch for the meatballs," She said, catching Craig looking off in another direction.

Spinner nudged the boy hard, trying to divert his attention back over at Anna, instead of focusing on the fast-approaching ex girlfriend of his. "Dude, come on. Don't look at her, she'll start something."

Craig shook his head, focusing back on Anna as she got along with nearly everyone in the group thus far; they were all smiling at her stories and laughing from her reenactment over Paige's loud shriek that filled the restaurant the night before.

"Craig, can I talk to you?" Ashley asked, standing in front of Craig. The group all stopped what they were doing as they stared up at the girl that they considered a friend. "In private, though."

The boy slowly nodded his head, standing up as he walked down the hallway briefly with his ex girlfriend. "What's up, Ash?" He asked, coming to a stop in front of the gym doors.

"I hear you're going pretty hot and heavy with that new girl," She blurted out, she didn't want it to quite come out that way, but if that's what happened, then so be it.

Craig looked at her in shock, his eyes darting around the hallway. "Are you fucking serious? I'm getting hot and heavy with Anna?"

Ashley shrugged her shoulders, looking into his eyes. He had lied to her before, and now he was lying to her once again. Or, was he telling the truth this time?

"Come on! We've been friends since childhood, I have told you that before! I told you all about Anna, don't you remember?" He watched as she shook her head, tears beginning to fill her eyes. "Anna Christine? I never told you about her? I blatantly remember telling you about her tons of times."

"Oh my God," Ashley muttered under her breath, turning to walk away.

"What is it?" Craig asked, turning her around to face him, the girl had broken down, tears running down her cheeks.

"Nothing…" She mumbled, pushing past him as she ran into the bathroom so that no one could see how embarrassed she was.

**...**

"Who was that?" Anna asked, looking at her newfound group of friends in confusion. They didn't seem to say anything; instead they were all quiet until their eyes focused on Craig as he returned to them.

Spinner stood up, pulling Craig close to him as he whispered, _"What'd you do?"_

Craig pushed him away hard, looking at him with wide eyes. "I didn't do shit, Spinner. I fucking told her the truth, she's got some nerve to walk up to me and accuse me of shit that I didn't do!" He said, looking around at his friends, all of which were giving him some kind of look. That was until he realized Anna wasn't there anymore. "Where'd Anna go?" He asked, looking around the hallway.

"She said something about going to the bathroom," Jimmy said, looking in the direction of the girls' bathroom. The same one which Ashley had run into, and the same one that Paige had stormed too earlier.

"Excuse me?" The voice of Anna echoed throughout the bathroom, opening stall doors as she tried to find the one that occupied Ashley. "Is anyone else in here?" She asked; kicking at the only door that wouldn't budge.

"Get the fuck away from me!" Ashley sobbed, trying to calm her crying slightly. "You don't know me, and I don't fucking want to know you!"

Anna stepped back, letting out a soft sigh. "Come on now, that's not nice…"

"I don't give a shit if it's nice, alright?" Ashley said, standing up from the toilet as she pulled open the door. "What the fuck do you want? Do you want to ask my permission to steal my ex boyfriend now?" She asked, running a tissue under her eyes.

"Why would I ask-?" Anna stopped herself, realizing whom it was that she was talking to. "Oh my God, you're Ashley Kerwin!" She patted the girl on the back, before realizing that she was becoming more distant with each passing second.

"Look, I have no time for this shit." She muttered, pushing a hand through her hair as she started to walk off for the door.

"Wait!" Anna called out, running up and grabbing her by the shoulder to stop her in her tracks. "Why are you being so mean? Even if we've never met, you don't have to be so cruel."

Ashley turned her face in the direction of the person standing directly behind her. "I thought that you and Craig were dating, alright?" That earned a small chuckle from the girl, who began rolling her fingers through her hair. "Then he told me who you were, and I felt so embarrassed." She sighed, turning back to face the door.

"No way! I could NEVER date Craig,"

"Trust me, we all say that, and then we fall for his stupid ploys…" Ashley quietly said, beginning to ramble off on everything that had happened over the last school year.

Ashley quietly walked out of the bathroom; her eyes were void of any mascara anymore as she had cried it all away. She turned to see that the guys were still all sitting in their usual seats, Hazel sitting on Jimmy's lap as they waited for Anna, they were going to help her out on her second day at Degrassi.

"Ash!" Craig called out, jogging over to the girl who turned away quickly.

She turned around, staring a hole right through him, her head shaking, as the five fateful words came spilling out of her mouth. "You should've told the truth!" With that, she turned to walk off to class.

"What?" Craig asked in confusion, not receiving a response until the sound of the bathroom door opened.

There she stood, the girl he had known since childhood, the one that had been with him on so many trips over to his stepfather's, the one who had been there for him. But now she was staring a hole through him, her eyes were vacant and empty, almost as if she was dead inside.

_When dealing with teenage girls, always remember the number one rule: Always tell the truth__._

**Degrassi End Credits**

**

* * *

**Author's Note: Thank you! I felt as if this 'episode' went really well, and I couldn't have done it without the support of my friends. I'll admit that some characters didn't sound like themselves, but I think I did pretty well. I hope that everyone has enjoyed this chapter, because there's a LOT more to come!

As for the new character of Anna Christine Harris, all that credit goes over to Kayla. I told you that you were going to be in store for a second surprise, so I hope you truly enjoyed the surprise.


	3. Episode 402: Laughed Until We Cried

**Degrassi: The Next Generation (Season 4)**_  
Episode 402: Laughed Until We Cried_

**Summary:**J.T. has changed over the summer holiday; he's not the same lovable James Tiberius Yorke that everyone shrugged off. Instead, he's now the brand-new 'cool' J.T. Yorke, leaving behind his old friends and trying to make new ones. Could a childhood memory bring back the old J.T., or will he be lost in the new wave?

* * *

J.T. walked down the hallway of Degrassi with a smile tugging at his lips, standing at his locker was his girlfriend Manny, and she looked beautiful today. The way that her own smile had brightened up his day was proof that they were doing alright, but he had felt that over the past week, she had grown kind of distant, almost as if she wasn't there sometimes. Maybe it was due to the fact that he had already introduced her to his family, or maybe it had something to do with her family being so strict about her dating.

"Manuela, the one true love of my life." He chuckled, wrapping an arm around her waist as he gave her a soft kiss on the lips. "How long have you been waiting?" He asked, noticing that her eyes darted towards the ground, before looking back up at him once he finished talking.

Manny laughed nervously, wringing a hand through her hair. "Oh, about fifteen minutes or so…" Why was she laughing nervously, it's not like she had anything to hide. Right… "But I could wait forever for my knight in shining armor." She smiled faintly, wrapping her arms around his back.

"This knight says, he will take on the dragon inside the castle to free his princess, so that they can live happily ever after!" Once again, her eyes were focusing on the ground, almost as if she didn't want to be there anymore. "Manny, are you listening to me?" He asked, pulling away from the hug slowly.

Her eyes darted up at him quickly, nodding her head. "Uh, of course I am. Why would I not listen to you?" She asked, gently rubbing her hands along his biceps.

"I don't know, it just seems as if your focus is on something else." He started, before letting out a sigh, realizing that she _wasn't there_ once again. "Nevermind." J.T. said, pulling away from her reach, as he walked off down the hallway.

"What's his problem?" Emma asked, watching as her friend walked off towards the Media Immersion room. She didn't receive a response right away, so she turned to face Manny, hoping the brunette would answer her then, but her eyes were focused on something else. "Manny!" She screeched, snapping her fingers in front of the brunette's face.

It was almost as if the brunette had been broken out of a trance, she turned to face her best friend with a confused stare. "What is it, Em?"

Emma sighed loudly, "Nevermind." She said, as she walked off towards the same direction that J.T. was headed.

Manny scratched at her head, watching as her friend walked off in search of HER boyfriend. "What is with everyone today?" She mumbled turning on her heals as she walked the opposite direction.

**Degrassi Intro and Song**

"J.T., is everything okay?" Emma asked, sitting down beside the boy as he typed away on a computer, making it look as if he were busy. "J.T…" She sighed, touching the boy's arm lightly.

The boy tensed suddenly, the feeling of the touch on his arm had made him divert his attention to the blonde briefly. "What's up, Emma?" He asked, turning his chair so that he could be face to face with her.

"I'm just wondering…"

J.T. chuckled softly, running a hand through his hair as he looked at the girl that he had been a friend with since kindergarten. "You're wondering if I'm alright after Manny totally ignored me today, right?" The boy said, raising an eyebrow at the blonde, watching as she slowly nodded her head. "Of course, I am." He lied.

Emma shook her head; she had known him for far too long to believe that he was okay after something like that. "It's not fair, she shouldn't be doing something like that to you, especially if you two are boyfriend and girlfriend."

"She's already done something, Em. It's old news, alright?" He sighed, turning to face the computer screen once again, and as he did the door to the classroom opened, a smile coming across his lips as he realized that Manny had made her way to class.

"Sorry I'm late guys, meeting with the principal!" Mr. Simpson spoke, trying his best to catch a breath as he set down his books on a desk.

J.T. just rolled his eyes, unaware that Emma was still watching him, she knew he was hurt, and if anything, he didn't deserve that pain.

"Today we are going to learn about the wonders of 3-D animation," The class let out a loud groan collectively, listening to the teacher as he began his lecture for the day.

**Scene Change**

Jimmy ran a hand through his hair as he exited the English room, he was sure that the test that they had just taken was going to be a failing grade for him. "You have got to focus more on the academics, James." His father had always said, telling him that sports and girls were always going to be there, but academics was the most important thing for a boy in eleventh grade.

An arm made it's way around his shoulders, it belonged to his girlfriend Hazel, she could tell that he was under pressure, but being the calm-natured guy that he was, he wouldn't let anyone know that. "Hey you," She smiled, tucking her head against his arm.

"Hey," Jimmy muttered quietly. He was usually more boisterous but the test had gotten him into the slumps. "I hate surprise tests, Kwan always throws those out there…" He said, coming to a stop in front of his locker.

"Jimmy, we knew about it for three weeks." Hazel said, running a hand through her hair as she leaned against the lockers, noticing the change in expression from her boyfriend. "I'm sure you did fine, Jim. You always do fine with things that you stress about."

"Yeah! I'm sure you stress about tons, road scholar." The voice of Jay Hogart interrupted, as he arrived next to the couple, along with his girlfriend Alex standing beside him.

Jimmy just rolled his eyes, not wanting to pay attention or give the time of day to a piece of scum like Jay. "Whatever, man." He said, rebounding off of his locker, as he turned to walk away.

Jay caught his arm, a smirk crossing his lips. "You think you're cool stuff, Brooks? Just 'cause you know all there is to know out on the courts, I'm sure you don't know a damn thing about the real world."

"Shut up, Jay." Hazel spat out, grabbing a hold of her boyfriend's arm to lead him away, before he got into any trouble.

"Oooh! Mr. Tough Guy, eh? His girlfriend has to stick up for him…" The boy cracked, turning to face his girlfriend, a sly smirk had appeared across her lips as well.

Jimmy hung his head briefly, a smile crossing his lips as he looked back at the boy in front of him. "Maybe I do know a thing about the courts out there, but at least I've never seen the inside of one."

At that moment, students had begun to form around the two boys, knowing that this had a huge potential of getting ugly. Spinner quickly arrived on the scene, grabbing at the back of Jimmy's sweatshirt to hold him back. "You can not get into trouble over this piece of shit," He whispered into the boy's ear.

Jimmy nodded his head, turning to walk away before he broke from Spinner's grasp and marched right up to the so-called gangster of Degrassi. "You ever diss my girlfriend again, I promise that I'll knock your teeth so far down your throat, that you'll be-" He stopped himself, upon seeing Principal Raditch up ahead. "Consider yourself lucky, Hogart…"

The boy just scoffed, turning around, as the same smirk was still plastered across his lips. If anything, Jimmy was the one that should be considering him lucky.

**Scene Change**

J.T. stood along the row of lockers in the hallway, his thoughts were clouded in confusion as to why Manny had flat-out ignored him as if he had a plague of some sort. _It's almost as if she still has a thing for Craig, and just stays with me, because she doesn't want to break my heart for the second time. _The boy thought that was the only reason, unaware that there could've been other complications, especially ones at home.

"J.T.!" Emma called out, waving a hand in the air as she speed-walked over towards her friend, watching as he began to walk in the opposite direction. "Wait up! You forgot your copy of that paper that Simpson handed out, you don't want to fail, do you?"

The boy turned around slightly, looking at the blonde as she soon came to a stop in front of him. "Emma, I could care less if I fail or not right now, I just wanna go home for the day."

Emma let out a soft sigh, this was not her friend talking, and it was a boy that had his heart broken. "J.T., come on, you don't have to act like this, just because Manny is in her 'ignore the world' stage."

"Does ignoring the world, mean that you have to ignore your boyfriend?" He asked, crossing his arms along his waist as he waited for answer, only to receive none at all. "Exactly, point proven." And with that, he grabbed the paper from the blonde and walked off towards the exit of the school.

As the girl watched her friend head off down the front steps, and walk towards the bus stop, which was situated in front of the school, she turned to walk away but felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder. "Miss Nelson, any reason that you're not in math class?" Principal Raditch asked, raising an eyebrow at the daughter of one of his own former students.

"No sir, I just thought I'd go for a nice walk around the building…" She was lying through her teeth, but she knew that J.T. would get into trouble if he had skipped off for the afternoon.

"Very well, but if you think about doing it again, I think I'll have add an extra day on your suspension with Manuela Santos."

"Alright." With that, Emma smirked as she took off slowly down the hallway and towards the math room.

"Teenagers…" The principal scoffed, turning in the opposite direction to walk towards the office.

**…**

As J.T. got onto the bus, he ran a hand through his hair nervously as he looked for an empty seat. He wasn't really going home; instead he was going to travel halfway across the city so that he could visit Lakehurst Secondary School. Other than the school, which hosted the rapist, Dean, Lakehurst was the next school in line to rival Degrassi in sports.

_Why am I even going here?_ The boy questioned himself. _You met these people over the break, went to a few parties, met a few nice girls, and now you think you can go to their school?_

The bus came to a stop directly in front of the school, which looked like a run-down version of Degrassi; the red bricks that adorned the school's walls were chipped with paint and graffiti. It was painfully obvious that this school was on the side of town that had mentioned all the school shootings, stabbing, sex scandals, etc.

"Lucas!" J.T. chuckled, noticing the boy that was leaning against one of the walls as one of the friends he had made over the summer. "How's it going man?" He asked, extending his hand towards the boy.

Lucas ran a hand through his dark hair, smirking in the process. "Can I help you?" He said, fishing through his pockets to retrieve a cigarette.

"It's me, J.T. Yorke, don't you remember me?" The boy from Degrassi knew this must've been a silly prank that the students of Lakehurst played. How could he not know who he was for sure? They had hung out together during the summer.

The dark-haired boy shook his head, pulling a drag from the cigarette. "I don't know anybody with such a fucked name like J.T., is that supposed to stand for something _cute_?" Lucas asked, mimicking a fairy as he pranced around.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The usual calm-natured boy from Degrassi said, standing tall as he looked right into the other boy's eyes. "You think you're a funny guy?" Without thinking, he had pushed Lucas hard, watching as the boy stumbled to catch his fall.

_Oh no. What the fuck did I just do?_ J.T. questioned himself, knowing that it was a bad move. The boy pitched his cigarette and raised his fists, standing in front of the boy from Degrassi. "J.T. Yorke is about to be murdered on his first day at Lakehurst." Before he could do anything though, he felt a hand wrap around his waist and pull him back.

"Lucas, come on, don't do this alright?" It was a girl's voice her voice sounding soft, almost angelic in a way. The boy turned around to face the girl, it was another one that J.T. had met that summer, and by the looks of it, she had been far too young to be partying with them during that holiday break.

"J.T. Yorke?" The girl shouted, covering her mouth as she looked at the boy from Degrassi.

"Mia Jones?"

**Scene Change**

Jimmy stood in the hallway alongside Spinner, Marco and Craig, the four of them thinking about individual things. Most of all, their minds were thinking about the near-fight that had almost taken place between Jimmy and Jay. Except for Craig's mind, he was still focused on everything that had happened the week before.

"Maybe I should've been honest with her since the beginning," He mumbled, running a hand through his dark hair. "I mean, I've known her since we were practically kids, and then I don't see her for years, and I start off with a lie."

"I'm sure everything's gonna be fine…" Marco said, looking up to see Anna walking past the four of them, her eyes were focused on something up ahead.

"Anna, wait up!" Craig shouted, taking off in a jog after the girl, only for her to sprint down the hallway. She obviously didn't want to hear his side of the story.

"I guess not," Marco said again, watching as Craig sulked off down the opposite hallway. "I don't know what he did this time, but I don't think it's nearly as bad as last year."

The other two boys weren't quite as focused on what Marco had been saying; instead focusing their eyes on Jay and his cronies that were walking around, as if they were all cool.

**…**

"Can you believe that Jimmy Brooks thinks that he can handle me?" Jay asked, looking around at his group of friends, none wanting to answer the boy. "Come on, Cameron, we all know you can handle him, can't you?"

Sean raised an eyebrow as he looked at his friend. "Excuse me? Why are we asking if I can handle him?"

Jay let out a laugh, looking at his girlfriend, then at Sean's girlfriend Ellie, and then back at the boy. "Easy. Because I'm not going to fight him, you are!"

"What the fuck?" Sean asked, standing in front of Jay, blocking his path. "Why the fuck aren't you going to handle him? Are you too much of a pussy, Jay?"

Jay shoved past the boy, before turning back to face him. "My record is pretty stacked compared to yours at this school, so I think you could handle him, and then if you get suspended, ah…it's just a small smidgen on a perfect record, right?"

Everybody that knew Sean had known his entire school career at Degrassi wasn't as _perfect_ as Jay had made it out to be. If anything, he probably even had a worse record than the so-called gangster himself did.

"You're not going to fight him, are you?" Ellie asked as she looked at her boyfriend, watching as he clenched his fists. If Sean had his way, he would've run up and gave Jay a thrashing, but he knew that wouldn't get him anywhere.

**…**

"Spin, if I get into a fight with him, you got my back right?" Jimmy asked, turning around to face his friend, the boy slowly nodding in approval.

"Of course man, but we all know the jerk off has no game, he's just all talk and no deliver." The blonde boy said, noticing that Jay had soon walked off, leaving Sean and Ellie in the spot where he had just been.

Marco looked around nervously, noticing the same thing that his friend had noticed. "You don't think he's coming here, do you?" Spinner shook his head, watching as the boy slapped both his friends on the shoulder. "I'm gonna run, you guys update me afterwards?" He stated, before taking off running down the hallway.

"Two against a potential four, what amazing odds." Jimmy chuckled, rolling his eyes in the process. "It's alright, cause I don't think the girls are going to get involved." He was talking of course about Alex and Ellie, knowing that unless there was another girl there, nothing would go down with the girls.

"If anything, Del Rossi could've handled both girls…" Spinner smirked, before stopping himself. "Actually, he couldn't handle Alex, she'd totally go Trish Stratus on his ass."

**…**

"I said, you're not going to fight him, are you?" Ellie asked, tapping Sean on the shoulder to catch his attention. "I think he should learn to fight his own battles, remember how many fights he almost got you into over the holiday? He has a big mouth, and when it comes time to own up to it, he doesn't want to do a damn thing."

Sean let out a sigh, turning to face his girlfriend as he captured her lips in a soft embrace. "You're right."

**Scene Change**

_Just my fucking luck, right? I show up to Lakehurst, hope to see some of my friends that I had made over the summer, see one of them, and then almost get my face bashed in. I was pretty damn lucky that Mia was there, I have to admit. She's Lucas' girlfriend, and she's two years younger than I am. 13 years old and partying already? Something had to be wrong with that situation._

"You know that he could've killed you, right?" Her voice broke through the thought process of J.T., as she came up from behind him. "What were you thinking by trying to get into a fight with him?"

The boy shrugged slightly, running a hand through his hair as he turned to face the girl. "I just thought that he'd remember me, I mean it was such a good holiday with you guys. I haven't had that much fun in years."

Mia chuckled lightly, pushing a strand of hair from her face. "He's quite forgetful, I mean he's my boyfriend, but there are times when he even forgets my name."

J.T. nodded slowly. _How did you seem to remember my name then? If an idiot like him could forget your name, then obviously he doesn't quite care about you. _"Well that's stupid, who would forget Mia Jones?" He said, sending the girl a goofy smirk, which only made her chuckling, get louder.

"Stop!" Mia said, holding her hands over her stomach as she tried to contain herself.

"Stop what?" J.T. laughed, pulling on his ears and puffing out his face as if making it looks like he was a monkey.

"That!" The girl said, pointing at the boy's face as he changed expressions within seconds. "J.T., you're gonna make me pee my pants, and that's not nice!" Mia frowned.

J.T. stopped his expressions, noticing the serious stare that he was getting from her, until she slowly slid out her tongue from between her lips and placed her hands on her hips, a soft chuckle coming from the boy as he watched her continue to try and make goofy faces.

"You're not the only one who can make silly faces, J.T. Yorke!" She laughed, before noticing Lucas and his group of friends rapidly approaching the duo.

_What's with her expression? It's changed. She's not laughing anymore. Did I do something to her?_ The boy thought to himself, before turning around and noticing that there was three guys approaching him, and one of them was Lucas. "Oh no!" He mumbled, before looking back at Mia as if what she would tell him to do.

"Bus!" Mia shouted, causing J.T. to turn around and notice the bus that was turning around the corner at that moment. "Bye…" She muttered under her breath as she watched him run for the bus, Lucas and his cronies fast on his trail.

Luckily for J.T., he had just gotten on the bus at just the exact moment the doors closed shut, causing Lucas and his friends to be stuck outside the bus. "Fuck!" Lucas shouted, turning around and punching the telephone pole.

_Thank you, God. _Mia thought to herself, watching as Lucas and his friends walked towards her. "I tried to distract him baby, I'm sorry that I couldn't keep him long enough." The girl said to her boyfriend, watching as he caressed his hand, which was stained with blood along the knuckles.

The boy from Degrassi stood on the bus as it pulled around the corner, his face one of mixed fear and shock. If it weren't for Mia Jones, the thirteen-year-old girl from Lakehurst Secondary, he would've had his face pounded in. Not once but twice, and that was proof enough, that he had made at least _one_ friend during the summer break.

**Scene Change**

As Jay stood in the bathroom, he heard a loud commotion outside and figured that it was probably Jimmy and his goofy friends trying to get the best of him. He pulled open the door slowly, and expected to be tackled or have a punch thrown at him, but to his surprise, no one was there. _You're thinking too much about this guy. Don't worry about it, all right? Sean Cameron has your back, if anything happens, just blame him…it's much easier._

The door to the bathroom was quickly pushed open, and the person that had just walked in had made Jay smirk to himself. "Marco Del Rossi, long time no see." The boy said, running a hand through the disheveled kid's hair. "Are you here just because you're running off from a confrontation between me and your good pal, Jimmy Brooks?" It was so much easier to pick on the weakest member of the group; there was no one to stand in his way.

"Leave me alone." Marco said, gritting his teeth in the process, as he looked up at the boy that was adjusting his hat. "I haven't done a single thing to you, so you better let me go, Jay."

Jay chuckled, before slamming the student up against the wall and leaning down next to his ear. "You tell your friend that if he thinks he can handle me, then he can meet me after school at the alley way beside The Dot."

Marco nodded his head quickly, before watching as the boy pulled away from him. "Take it easy, queer!" Those words were the ones that stung through the Italian's blood as he watched the Degrassi gangster start to walk away. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" He shouted louder, and without so much as a blink of an eye, the door to the washroom was pushed open, and there stood Principal Raditch.

"Jayson Hogart, you're coming with me." The principal said, grabbing the boy by the hood of his sweatshirt and leading him out into the hall.

"I didn't do anything!" He protested, but it was all on deaf ears as the principal soon led him into the office. "You know what?" Jay said, stopping in his tracks as he looked at the authority figure, knowing that he'd be in even more trouble after whatever happened later with Jimmy. "FUCK YOU!" He shouted, loud enough for anyone within the first floor of Degrassi to hear him.

A lot of people were looking in his direction, not believing that he had just said that to the principal of the school. Certainly, they knew he had a lot of guts, but no one ever had _that_ much.

The principal raised an eyebrow as he slowly turned to face the gutsy student. "Fair enough, Jayson. You have a week's worth of suspensions waiting for you. You can start right now, in my office."

**Scene Change**

J.T. contemplated knocking on the apartment door of Manny, he didn't know if she was home or if her parents were there, but he felt that it was about time that he talked to the girl, and asked her what he was doing wrong. But he didn't have to knock on the door, instead it was pulled open, and his girlfriend stepped out with a bag of trash in her hand. "Manny!" He called, but noticed the girl walking quickly past him. "Wait up, what'd I do?"

The girl opened the door that led to the garbage chute and began walking back to her apartment, before sighing loudly at the boy that considered himself to be her boyfriend. "Do you honestly feel as if you have to ask?" She stated, folding her arms across her chest.

"I didn't do anything…" J.T. pleaded, running a hand through his hair. He was telling the absolute truth, unless someone stuck it into his girlfriend's head that he had done other stuff.

Manny let out a chuckle, before shaking her head in disgust. "You think that we're boyfriend and girlfriend, J.T., that's what you did." As she noticed the confused look on his face, she walked up to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Aww, is little James Tiberius Yorke gonna cry?"

J.T. shook his head quickly, what could she mean that him saying they were an item was wrong? "I don't understand, I thought we were dating…"

Manny pursed her lips, before placing her hand on the knob of the door, about to step into the complex. "That's right, J.T., you _thought_ we were dating! You obviously don't ask other people their thoughts." The girl harshly stated, before turning the doorknob and walking into her house, the door locking behind her.

"Manny!" J.T. called out, pounding his fists on the door. There had to be more of an explanation for this, they had been dating off and on throughout the summer and started dating full-on last week, but now she was calling it quits? There _HAD_ to be something else that led her to break away so quickly.

**…**

As the boy made his way out of the building, he stopped to pull out his cellphone. He didn't want to look or sound like a stalker by calling Mia and thanking the girl for saving his life two times in a row. Surpassingly enough, there was a text message waiting for him, once he opened up the program.

**Hey! Just thought I'd see if everything was okay after getting on the bus, Lucas and the guys were really upset that they couldn't get a hold of you. I made it seem like I had tried to hold you back, when really; I was trying to not fall for you. I hope you're smiling, making goofy faces to all the girls at Degrassi, because they're lucky. Lucky that they have you.**

J.T. gasped, shutting his phone. Was Mia Jones, the girl from Lakehurst really falling for him? Is that why she decided to save his life, instead of having her boyfriend and his friends attack him? He had rarely known the girl, only meeting her at the parties over the summer, and she seemed to be hanging off Lucas pretty tight back then.

Maybe it was time that he thought things through; he needed someone to talk to, someone that he could trust. He slowly pulled open his phone, scrolled through the address list and came across the number that he needed. "Yeah, Toby…it's me J.T., can we meet up at The Dot?"

Within seconds, the boy made his way off of the front steps of his now ex-girlfriend's apartment building, and was heading in the direction of the local coffee shop, that nearly everyone within Degrassi frequented.

**…**

"Toby, I don't get it." The boy said, running a hand through his hair as he explained to his friend about what had happened. "Manny tells me that I was the _only_ one in our relationship that thought we were dating."

As Toby took a drink from his beverage, he nodded as if he understood. "I'm sure you weren't the only one thinking that, I'm sure others thought you two were dating." He then noticed that his friend was squinting, as if he needed some more elaboration. "What I mean is that she's not ready for something as committed as a relationship just yet, she probably still has some sort of guard up after what happened with Craig last year."

_Didn't have a guard up when she slept with him._ J.T. thought to himself, as he slowly took a sip from his drink. "Yeah, I get that, but then she proceeds to tell me that I'm a baby." Okay, maybe those weren't the exact terms, but she had made fun of him by saying he was about to cry.

"You're not a baby, alright? She can be cruel sometimes, possibly wanting someone with a little more _experience_, if you catch my drift…"

The boy groaned loudly, running a hand over his face as he tried to take it all in. "If that doesn't make matters worse, check this out!" J.T. said, sliding the phone across the table to his friend.

Toby took a minute to read the text quietly, but then picked up over the last line. " _'I hope you're smiling, making goofy faces to all the girls at Degrassi, because they're lucky. Lucky that they have you.'_ "

"Crazy, right?" J.T. said, snatching his phone back.

"Who wrote that, and why would they write it to you?" Toby smirked, shoving playfully at his friend. "I'm just kidding. Honestly though, who wrote it?"

"Mia Jones,"

Toby raised an eyebrow in confusion, not knowing who this Mia girl was, and was hoping that J.T. would elaborate a little bit more. When he got no information from his friend within a minute, he sighed. "Are you going to continue?"

"Oh!" J.T. chuckled, nodding his head about continuing the story. "Well, she's actually younger than us, she's thirteen."

"THIRTEEN?" Toby spat out, causing the entire shop to turn around and look at the duo.

J.T. nervously ran a hand over his face. "Thanks, Toby. I'm sure they didn't hear you on the Don Valley Parkway, wanna get any louder?" He whisper-yelled at his friend.

"Sorry, sorry."

J.T. nodded as he took another sip from his beverage before continuing to talk. "Yes, she's thirteen Toby." He paused, expecting another loud outburst, but didn't receive one, so he continued. "And she's dating someone in our grade, I think…"

Toby looked at his friend, confusion spreading across his face. "What do you mean by that?"

"If you'd let me finish the story, you'd find out." The boy said as he ran his hand through his hair, watching as his friend nodded for him to go on. "Well, she was hanging off this guy all summer at these parties, and today, she saved my ass two times from him beating the ever-loving shit out of me."

Toby shook his head, he couldn't believe that J.T. almost got his ass handed to him twice that day. "You almost got your ass kicked at Degrassi?" He said, adjusting his glasses somewhat.

"No!" The boy shouted, before standing up from his seat to order another beverage. "I was at-" Before J.T. could finish his sentence, he was bombarded by people rushing out the front door of the popular coffee shop. "What's going on?" He asked as he grabbed one of the people by the shoulders.

"Jimmy Brooks and Jay Hogart are smashing it out in the alley!"

J.T. widened his eyes, looking at Toby who had the same dumbfounded expression on his face. "Let's go!" He shouted, both boys running out and joining the crowd.

**Scene Change**

Jimmy stood out at the alley way behind the favorite hangout of every Degrassi student, The Dot. His hood was up, pacing back and forth as he threw a few punches in the air, almost as if he were getting ready to slug it out with Muhammed Ali.

"Hey!" The voice came from the car that was parked onto the main street. The crowd looked over at the freshly painted orange car, seeing that the occupant of the voice was Jay Hogart. "If you're such a man, Jimmy, we don't need to meet up at some alley way like thugs, let's do it out on the main street."

As Jimmy grinned, he folded his arms tightly against his chest. "It figures, you're all tough when there's no one to defend themselves, but when there's a crowd, little Jayson Hogart goes back to the wimp and coward that he's always been!"

Jay quickly pulled himself from the car, slamming the door shut in the process. No one ever called him a wimp and got away with it. "What'd you say, Jimmy?" He then looked around, dark eyes scanning the group of people that were there to watch the fight, before letting a smirk creep along his lips. "Better back it up, seeing as your little girlfriend isn't here to protect you."

"Neither is your dyke!" Jimmy said, as he connected with a solid fist to the boy's mouth, sending him stumbling backwards in shock.

As Jay felt the sensation and tingling of warm blood collecting from his bottom lip, he dabbed it to make sure that he wasn't just feeling things. Pulling away, he could see the imprint of blood on his fingers, and that sent him into overdrive.

As Jimmy smirked, he turned around to look at Spinner, the boy nodding his head in approval. "Good one!" The blonde shouted, shooting up thumbs up in approval.

"Did you just call my girlfriend a dyke?" Jay asked, raising an eyebrow in shock. "Honestly, Jimmy, I think that's the stupidest thing you've done in all your years at Degrassi." The boy said, socking Jimmy in the mouth as a receipt for the punch he had gotten.

"Jerk!" Jimmy shouted, covering his lip as he tackled the boy to the ground. Both boys hit the concrete ground pretty hard, a thud sounding as they rolled around, bystanders just backing up, so as not to get trampled.

"I love a fight like this!" J.T. shouted, watching as Jay threw three quick punches into Jimmy's left side. "It's almost as if we're watching Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock duke it out…"

Toby raised an eyebrow in confusion at his friend, but shook his head as he reached over to try and separate the two men that had been brawling.

"Back up!" Spinner shouted, pushing people out of the way as he grabbed a hold of Jimmy by the back of his hooded sweatshirt.

No one had backed up far enough to separate the two teenage boys, so within seconds, they both had a hold of each other and Jimmy was in the process of kneeing Jay in the face. Before he could connect, he felt Jay be pulled away by someone of similar stature. "Did you not hear Spinner? BACK UP!" It was the voice of Sean, and he had Jay by one arm, leading him towards the orange car.

"Coward!" Jimmy shouted, holding his ribs slightly as he leaned against Spinner.

"Let me fucking go!" Jay groaned, being held back by Sean from going back and fighting with the boy. "I said, let me go!"

The slamming of a patio door was heard, and there stood Ricky, owner of The Dot and he looked angry. He folded his arms across his apron-clad chest and shook his head. "What's going on out here?"

As Jimmy straightened up, he smirked proudly as he had delivered the most punishment of the day, and if it had not been for his best friend, Jay's nose would've been mush.

Spinner chuckled, ringing a hand through his hair as he looked over at his boss. "Just a good ol' friendly scuffle, sir." He lied, but it was the only way to make sure that Ricky didn't phone the police.

"Fair enough, Gavin!" Ricky shouted, as he walked towards the door, upon seeing that a crowd of people still separated between Jimmy and Jay. "I think you all should be getting home, don't you agree?" The boss said, as he headed inside.

"Hey Spin," Jimmy said, turning to face his friend as the crowd began to die down. "Could you happen to do me a small favor?"

The blonde boy nodded, a smile crossing his lips. "What would it be, Jimmy Brooks, the guy that kicked Jay Hogart's ass!"

Jimmy had to laugh, but couldn't for very long as he held onto his ribs. "Shut up, just go inside and ask your boss to make me a hamburger."

As Jay slowly got into his car, he turned to look over at Sean, and then out the window as he revved up the engine. _It's not over. Not yet by a long shot._

**Scene Change**

Emma crossed her arms along her chest, shaking her head in the process. She had been on the phone with Manny for about two hours discussing why the girl had broken up with J.T. so quickly; there was no excuse for it. "Did he do anything wrong?" The blonde asked, only receiving a rather loud sigh in the background for a response. "Manny!"

"No, he didn't do anything wrong, it's just that…" The brunette hesitated, not wanting to give the full answer, because she felt like it was truly a dumb reason to break up. "I don't see him as a boyfriend, really. I mean, I've known him since kindergarten and it's like _weird_, ya know?"

Emma sighed, knowing full well that wasn't a valid excuse, but if her friend had to come up with one on the spot, then that one was pretty valid. "But he's pretty broken up about it Manny, I don't think you'd wanna say something like that to him."

"What am I supposed to say, Emma?" Manny started, folding an arm across her waist. "Am I supposed to tell him that everytime we kiss, I feel like I'm kissing a rubber hose?"

The blonde didn't know what to say, as far as she knew Manny had enjoyed being with J.T. over the past week as an actual couple. "But you told me last week that you guys were growing closer together."

"I don't think so, alright? I mean, I still want to be friends with him, because he is one of my best, but I can't be his girlfriend."

"Why not?" Emma sighed, curling a strand of her blonde hair within her fingers. "You guys look cute together, and plus, he adores you."

Manny let out a light chuckle, sitting down on her bed and crossing her legs. "That's the thing, Emma! He adores me, he thinks I'm his everything. I just feel like telling him to go buy a pet or something…"

"Most girls would love to have a guy adore them, myself included." The blonde smiled at the thought of having a boy beckon to her call, and shower her with gifts and affection.

"Well, I'm not like that." The brunette said as she picked up a locket that was on her bed. "Anyway, I plan on giving him a present tomorrow so that the break-up is that much easier."

"Oh, like a present is going to make it all right." Emma scoffed. "Be honest with me Manny, do you still love Craig Manning?"

"Of course not!" Manny shouted, almost as if she was in disbelief that her best friend could ask her a question like that. "What even makes you think that?"

"EMMA!" The blonde knew whose voice that belonged to; it was her mother on the phone downstairs, trying to get her daughter to bed. "You've got school in the morning, and I don't want to be bothered waking you up because you're late. I've got an early hair appointment."

Emma sighed, knowing that her mom was right, and she didn't want to disobey her mother at that time of night. "I'll get off in one minute." She said, hearing the click coming from the other line. "I gotta go Manny, we're continuing this talk tomorrow morning before homeroom."

"There's nothing else to talk about…" Manny stated, but was cut off by the sound of dial tone.

As Manny played around with the locket, she noticed the inscription of the words, **'BFF'** on the heart. As she opened the piece of jewelry, she saw the picture staring back at her; it was of her and J.T. when they were in sixth grade at the school dance.

_So here I am with my thoughts of you__  
And this world I've left for me__  
Stoic faces when I think of you__  
And how I once believed__  
So now you call me, but you know I won't let you through  
__I've myself to deceive__  
So leave the memories alone__  
I don't want to see__  
The way it is, as to how it used to be__  
Leave the memories alone, don't change a thing  
And I'll hold you here in my memory._

**…**

Emma looked over at J.T. and Toby carrying on in conversation, realizing that Manny must've been trying to get there late, as she obviously didn't want to talk anymore the night prior.

"Em!" Manny said, rushing up to her friend and pulling her into a tight hug. "I was looking around for you, where were you?"

The blonde raised an eyebrow at her friend, wondering what was wrong with her. "Um, where I usually am. Before first class, I'm always standing at my locker." She said, eyes still focused on the two boys up ahead.

The brunette laughed, before catching her best friend's gaze towards J.T. and Toby. "I promise that I'm going to tell him today, just don't force me alright?"

Emma shrugged her shoulders, noticing that the two boys had started walking towards them. "I'd say you'd have to do it sooner than later."

"Hey girls," Toby smiled as he looked at both of his two friends, then back at his best friend. "How long did the homework take you guys last night?"

The blonde chuckled, running a hand through her hair. "Mr. Simpson's not hard at all, especially when he IS your dad." Emma smiled, knowing that the group was jealous that she probably got extra help.

"Um…" Toby started, making sure he caught Emma's gaze. "So, tell me more about how imports and exports in the computer world work." He said, winking so that the two of them could walk off, and leave the former couple together to talk about their differences.

"Sure thing!" Emma stated, wrapping an arm around Toby's shoulders as they walked off towards the Media Immersion lab.

**…**

_Imports and Exports?_ Manny thought to herself. She knew full well that subject wasn't covered in the homework that they received the night prior. Sure enough though, her ex-boyfriend was now standing right in front of her.

As J.T. stood at the locker, he couldn't help but think about the past couple days. He hadn't heard anything from Manny since the night prior, and he had wondered a lot about if anything had happened to Mia, since she played a part in his escape route from Lakehurst. He hadn't heard anything from the latter, since the text message that she had sent him the night prior. But now, thanks in part to Toby and Emma, Manny was standing right in front of him.

"J.T., can we talk for a minute?" Manny squeaked out, looking down to the floor. She knew if she looked straight up at him, that he probably wouldn't have anything to say, and just decide to walk away from her.

The boy looked up and sighed. "Sure, I don't see what you have to say, you broke up with me. Let's just leave it at that, alright?" As he turned to walk away, he could feel that he was being pulled back.

"I didn't want to break up with you, but I know that I did, and with that I broke your heart." The brunette said, running a hand through her hair as she finally built up the courage to look up at her ex-boyfriend.

"You're absolutely right, Manny." J.T. said and placed his hand on her shoulder. "But it's okay, I understand everything."

Manny raised an eyebrow; there was no way that he knew everything, unless Emma blurted it out. "What do you know?" She asked, pursing her lips together.

"You have your guard up, and you're not really ready for a relationship right yet."

Manny nodded somewhat that was actually more believable than what she had wanted to tell him. She wanted to tell him the truth, her mind was telling her to, so be her heart, but she just kept silent. "I got you something." The girl said as she pulled out the locket, which was wrapped in various colors of toilet paper.

"Ooh!" J.T. happily muttered, "It's toilet paper!" Manny rolled her eyes playfully, telling him to open it further. When the boy noticed the locket, he instantly smiled at the girl. "BFF," He repeated as he stroked each letter softly.

"It means Best Friend forever," the girl smiled back. "Open it up though!" As J.T. opened up the locket, he could feel the tears lightly sting his eyes, his smile growing. "Grade six, where have the years gone by?"

Manny shrugged, before stepping into her friend's arms for a hug. "Just hold me?"

_So I find me in your garden now  
A sad smile for the scene  
And all the flowers that we planted now  
Taken by the weeds  
But in my minds eye, you know they still bloom for me  
They stand tall there, in that summer breeze._

_Leave the memories alone  
I don't want to see  
The way it is, as to how it used to be  
Leave the memories alone, don't change a thing  
And I'll just hold you here in my memory__._

**Degrassi End Credits**

**

* * *

**Author's Note: I apologize to everyone if this 'episode' didn't come across as a good one. I really wanted to make everything come out; I hope it made everyone happy though. I'll admit once again that some of the characters didn't sound like themselves, and for that I am sorry. I hope that everyone has enjoyed this chapter though, because there's still a LOT more to come!

I also have introduced Lucas and Mia from Lakehurst WAY earlier than they appeared on the real show. I wonder what'll end up happening with them, anyone with predictions?


End file.
